John Wright has complimented current Indian coach Anil Kumble, for whom he had a soft corner ever since his coaching days.

As the Indian players get ready to defend the title in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, immediately following the conclusion of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017, former Indian coach John Wright has complimented current Indian coach Anil Kumble, for whom he had a soft corner ever since his coaching days. Meanwhile, Wright also feels that the Indian team would be daunting task for the other participating teams in the Champions Trophy, as not just they are the defending champions, but he believes the present Team India has a really good side, especially the pace attack. However, he also warned the batsmen to adapt to the conditions quickly in order to successfully defend the title. ICC CT 2017: ICC announces umpire and match referee appointments

“The current group of India players are so fortunate to have Kumble as their coach. He’s an outstanding man of great integrity and great intelligence. India’s got a good team. Your pace attack is perhaps the most potent it’s ever been. The Indian seamers were very good in India earlier, and if Anil Kumble [the current India coach] can ensure that they stay disciplined [in terms of line and length] in England, it would be tough to beat India. However, your batsmen need to adapt quickly to the conditions, because it’ll be early summer in England, and the ball will seam around. In fact, the team which the quickest in adapting to the English conditions will win the tournament,” said Wright while talking to Times of India. ICC CT 2017: IND will use their experience and do well, feels Vaas

Wright also spoke on Mumbai Indians’ (MI) loss against Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) in Qualifier 1 of the IPL 2017 playoffs. “Tuesday’s match was a great example of how momentum swings in Twenty20 cricket. We were in total control till the last two overs [of the Pune innings], and then MS Dhoni went crazy and played brilliantly, and we didn’t execute our plans well. Then, they got a couple of early wickets, and all of a sudden things changed.” ICC Champions Trophy 2017: Depends how Kohli uses Dhoni’s experience, says Kapil

“Rohit Sharma [MI captain] was unlucky on Tuesday night. He has hit the ball. It changed the game. I like the review system, and I don’t like it. I like it when it’s so obviously not out, that the first replay says it’s not out. We can all see it, can’t we? If it’s so obvious, and we can fix it up quickly, and it’s fast and we can see an accurate decision, but if we’ve to wait and have one cup of tea after another [and yet the replays aren't conclusive], if it’s going to take forever [then it's not ideal],” he added.

Finally, speaking on coaching MI in IPL and especially how was it coaching a Twenty20 (T20) side, he said, “I learnt about T20 cricket from football. I remember Brian Clough, [who was a manager of Nottingham Forrest when they won two European Cups] had said: ‘What’s the point of scoring six, if you let in seven.’ So, I firmly believe that you’ve got to have a good fielding and bowling unit in T20 cricket.”

(Ayush Gupta is a reporter at CricketCountry. A passionate supporter of Manchester United, he idolises Roger Federer and is also a World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) maniac. He can be followed on Twitter @Ayush24x7)

First Published on May 18, 2017 3:20 PM ISTLast updated on May 18, 2017 3:20 PM IST